Dr. Jane Huggins, Adjunct Professor in Environmental Studies and an image of her poster presentation.

Dr. Jane Huggins, Adjunct Professor in Environmental Studies, won best poster presentation at the NJEdge 16th Annual Faculty Showcase. Her poster presentation, “Analogies to Art and Music: Clarifying Content in Non-Major Science Courses”, describes the use of abstract visual art and/or music analogies to help non-science majors learn basic concepts in the scientific discipline of toxicology.

In an interview after her poster win, Dr. Huggins indicated that she integrated this technique into her course as a tool to sponsor creativity, enforce learning, and help students understand complex concepts of scientific and biological processes through analogy in abstract art and music. She explained that this process works to develop the skills of first time science majors and helps lead to a better understanding of future concepts, similar to the way a mind map is used.

In her poster, Dr. Huggins quotes Kathy Seiler, Associate Professor of Science and Science Coordinator at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont, who said, “If you try to find perfect analogies for concepts in science, you will find very few…. Be crazy. Be a little inaccurate. But help the students understand and remember by showing them that they ALREADY understand the concept. They just need to apply their knowledge in a different way.”

Shown below are two examples of such assignments and the responses of the student’s in Dr. Huggins courses:

Visual Art

Assignment: Describe HOW the following piece of abstract art relates to toxic responses of the respiratory system …

Student Response: “This picture shows all different sized circles. This is just like how the particles that go into the respiratory tract are of different sizes. …Particle size is usually the critical factor that determines the region of the respiratory tract in which a particle will be deposited. Therefore some of these large circles that are like particles will get stuck in certain areas such as large particles getting trapped in the upper respiratory tract.”

–Ashlee M.

Music

Assignment: Choose one or two pieces of music and describe HOW they represent toxic responses of the liver …

Student Response: “I think that Beethoven’s 5th symphony is a good representation of the liver and its response to toxicants. I feel this way because throughout the song the music is soft and soothing and this represents everything being fine with the liver and everything going smoothly. Then the song gets much louder and the instruments play much quicker. To me this represents the liver now dealing with a toxin in the blood and it is having trouble as the toxin does damage and the liver is having trouble as it cleanses the toxin from the bloodstream.”

–Craig M.

Dr. Huggins wants to develop these activities further to help facilitate student interaction and better evaluate what students understand.

Stockton Faculty present at the 16th NJEdge Annual Conference

Along with poster winner Dr. Jane Huggins, other Stockton Faculty presented posters and participated in IGNITE sessions at the 16th NJEdge Annual Faculty Showcase: “The Junction of Technology and Teaching”. Summaries of each session are presented below.

Poster Session Teaching K-12 teachers: Do online classes make the grade? K-12 teachers know good teaching when they see it and have learned the benefits of holding high standards for themselves, their students, and their teachers. The presenters propose an online synchronous graduate course model that meets these expectations. This model includes a high level of virtual face-to-face contact with the instructor and with other classmates. Each presenter will discuss her course model and share the perceptions these K 12 teachers have of this model of online synchronous teaching.
Full Details: http://conference.njedge.net/2016/poster-session-23/

Assessment of student learning and the appropriate method has been an ever discussed topic in education. Additionally, the desire to measure higher order thinking has dictated the evolution of assessment to move away from traditional multiple choice exams. Yet, there are times that this format of measure is appropriate. As part of a request by students, a pilot was completed to understand student performance using online assessment verses in-classroom assessment. The results show that online assessment provides numerous benefits for the student perspective; but these benefits may not manifest in actual performance outcomes.
Full Details: http://conference.njedge.net/2016/poster-session-2/

YouTube is a multi-functional platform to help faculty improve student exposure, engagement, learning, and assessment results. As part of classroom lectures and exercises, YouTube has proven to contribute to the student experience and aid in the evaluation of individual participation, synthesis, and application of concepts through the development of student videos. Accordingly, YouTube is used to stimulate student engagement and provide just-in-time feedback to develop each student’s presentation skills in an environment that is safe. YouTube has become the gateway to expanded resources, a platform to practice, critique, refine, and distribute student work, and a vehicle to measure student learning.
Full Details: http://conference.njedge.net/2016/poster-session-3/

All aboard! Fire up your engines; it’s full steam ahead with engaging web tools to enhance formative feedback. Why treat assessment like a caboose? This presentation offers new and exciting ways to blend informal evaluations with content to create a purposeful learning environment. Let students take part in engineering their own learning to remain on the right track for academic success.
Full Details: http://conference.njedge.net/2016/48-2/

Congratulations to all of Stockton’s presenters. The annual NJEDge Faculty Showcase will be held March 15 at Monmouth University. This year’s theme is “Best Practices in Ensuring Student Success”. The deadline for proposal submission is February 8, 2017. It is a great event for sharing your expertise in the area of instructional technology and for networking with your fellow faculty members from other New Jersey colleges and universities. Full details are available at: http://www.cvent.com/d/fvqfpr/4W
If you have any questions, please contact Linda Feeney at 609-626-3479.

Students Shine in Dr. Naz Onel's Sustainability Film Festival

Dr. Naz Onel, Assistant Professor of Business Studies, with the winners of the Sustainability Film Festival for their film titled, “Hello!”.

As part of Dr. Naz Onel’s, Assistant Professor of Business Studies, Sustainability Marketing course, students directed and created short films to present at the inaugural Sustainability Film Festival. Topics addressed by the student films include water treatment, recycling waste, and retailers of sustainable or renewable products.

As the founder of the film festival, Dr. Onel, provided background information in a recent interview on the film festival’s origins. The inspiration for a video-based project, Onel explained, came from a phone discussion with Frank Belz, chair of Corporate Sustainability at the Technical University of Munich. Belz had enjoyed previous success with assigning video work to his students, so Onel decided to trial the idea with her own students at Stockton. When she approached her students with a video project as an alternative to a term paper, her students embraced the concept despite generally having little experience in video production. Additional benefits Onel saw were a sharing of knowledge that would not occur in reports reviewed only by an instructor, and the drawing-out of a competitive edge in students.

As an exercise in experiential learning, Dr. Onel guided her students through the basic steps of creating video content from storyboarding to scripting. During production, E-Learning staff member Tucker Rowlinson provided technical support for students who were unfamiliar with video editing software.

Of nine team projects, the film to receive the most votes for “Best in Show” was a rendition of Adele’s “Hello” with a decidedly sustainable twist. A conflict between the “greener side” and the “toxic side” serves as a backdrop for information about sustainable retail practices and examples of renewable consumer products. Below are video stills from “Hello!” and the top three videos of the festival.

Video still from “Hello!”, the 1st place winner.

Video still from “Litter and Order”, the 2nd place winner.

Video still from “Water Bottle”, the 3rd place winner.

The Office of E-Learning Helps Students “Get Involved”

The Office of E-Learning participated in the “The Get Involved Fair”, sponsored by the Office of Student Development at the beginning of The Fall and Spring semesters. The event highlights the variety of ways Stockton students can get involved in organizations, opportunities, and much more.

Dennis Fotia, Assistant Director of E-Learning, and Abigail Williams, Seasonal Specialist, staffed the event. The Office of E-Learning provided practical tips and information to help students make informed decisions when registering for online or hybrid classes and offered students the opportunity to ask any E-Learning related questions. Topics such as navigating Blackboard, using Turnitin, and time management in online courses, were popular among students who visited.